There was widespread horror and condemnation last year when Uganda passed a draconian anti-gay law that included the death penalty for some same-sex acts and a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality. Yet it was only the harshest in a wave of homophobic new legislation across Africa, which has yet to ebb.
In February, Ghana’s parliament passed a bill making “wilful promotion, sponsorship or support of LGBTQ+ activities” punishable with up to five years in jail, and identifying as gay with up to three years’ imprisonment. It was supported by both major parties, though the president has yet to validate it – and the finance ministry has urged him not to do so, warning that it could cost the country $3.8bn (£3bn) in World Bank funding. There is particular concern that Kenya, which has previously given asylum to LGBTQ+ people forced to flee other countries, could toughen laws.
Around half of the 60 or so countries worldwide which criminalise same-sex relations are in Africa, though six countries – Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Seychelles and Mauritius – have decriminalised it in recent years, and South Sudan lifted the death penalty. South Africa, which legalised same-sex marriage in 2006, has constitutional protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and has continued to enact legislation to protect gay rights, though homophobic crime persists.
But the surge of lobbying for anti-gay legislation is disturbing. In addition to the fear and stigma that such laws breed, in Mauritania, Somalia and parts of Nigeria, as well as Uganda, same-sex relations are punishable by death.
In practice, laws do not need to lead to death row to cost lives. Criminalisation legitimates and fuels homophobia and violence, including by security forces. Activists in Ghana say its bill has already prompted a sharp rise in violence. Experts have also warned that such legislation is setting back the fight against HIV/Aids on the continent, with gay men too frightened to access sexual health services.
Homophobic campaigning is usually couched as “protecting families” against malign foreign influences. Burundi’s president, Évariste Ndayishimiye, who declared in December that gay people should be stoned, describes homosexuality as a western import. LGBTQ+ activists, however, argue that it is homophobia that is foreign. Many have pointed out that persecution often relies on colonial-era laws, and that the recent surge in legislation comes as US evangelical groups have poured large sums into campaigning on the continent. An openDemocracy investigation in 2020 found that US campaigners who seek to limit sexual and reproductive rights had spent more than $50m in Africa since 2007, with much of that going to Uganda.
“Ugandan society has always lived … with LGBTQ persons … The homophobia, the transphobia we are seeing … is from the west. It is mostly peddled by extreme American evangelicals,” argues the Ugandan activist Frank Mugisha. Last year the pope and the archbishop of Canterbury denounced the criminalisation of homosexuality. Donors have also halted funding to Uganda. Given the attempts to portray LGBTQ+ rights as a foreign imposition, however, it is especially essential to listen to domestic activists and support their priorities. Countries such as South Africa should also take a lead in challenging anti-gay legislation and homophobic attitudes. Finally, it is essential to expose and hold accountable those in the west who, not content to sow division at home, are spreading poison abroad.
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